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Step 1: Programming the Character

Today, we’re going to make a classic vertical shooter game in ActionScript 2. I hope you learn from it! Let us begin.

The first thing that I’m going to do is make the background of my game black, so it looks more retro. Then, we’re going to have to make the frame rate faster, mine will be 24 fps. Also, this will be a vertical shooter, so we probably should make the playing screen more narrow. My new dimensions are at 300×400 pixels.

Next, we’re going to draw a character. Mine will be simple, just a triangle pointing upwards.

The dimensions for it are 30×35 pixels.

Then, we’re going to turn it into a symbol. After that, we’re going to give it an instance name of mcMain for main character. We will need this so we can reference the guy later. Now we’re ready to code this sucker. Make a new layer called “actions” and add the following code:

var mainSpeed:Number = 5;//how fast the main guy can move

onEnterFrame = function(){ //this function will run every frame (needed for moving the character
	if(Key.isDown(37) || Key.isDown(65)){ //if the "A" key or Left Arrow Key is Down
		mcMain._x -= mainSpeed;//then the move the guy left
	}
	if (Key.isDown(38) || Key.isDown(87)){//if the "W" key or Up Arrow Key is Down
		mcMain._y -= mainSpeed; //then move the guy up
	}
	if(Key.isDown(39) || Key.isDown(68)){//if the "D" key or Right Arrow Key is Down
		mcMain._x += mainSpeed; //then move the guy to the right
	}
	if(Key.isDown(40) || Key.isDown(83)){//if the "S" key or Down Arrow Key is Down
		mcMain._y += mainSpeed; //then move the guy down
	}

	//keeping the main character within bounds
	if(mcMain._x <= 0){
		mcMain._x += mainSpeed;
	}
	if(mcMain._y <= 0){
		mcMain._y += mainSpeed;
	}
	if(mcMain._x >= Stage.width - mcMain._width){
		mcMain._x -= mainSpeed;
	}
	if(mcMain._y >= Stage.height - mcMain._height){
		mcMain._y -= mainSpeed;
	}
}

This is actually all we need for this chapter. Pretty easy, right? Next time, we’ll make him shoot!

Final Product

Source .fla File

You all those games, the kind that usually aren’t particularly good but are still somehow very popular. Those are what are know as viral games. Some are created to advertise a product or event. Others are just made to be funny. But, they all have some aspects that are special to these kind of games. I’m going to tell you the components of games like these.

A collection of the best links I find throughout the weeks, covering topics such as Flash, Flex, Game Development, Humor, and Web Design.

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